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Gustavo Dudamel to Lead LA Philharmonic

The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced today that a 26-year old Venezuelan will be its next music director. We hear about him, about his education in Venezuela and about a movement to restore music teaching in California. On Reporter's Notebook, making energy out of the sludge from treated wastewater. Will Los Angeles lead the way?

FROM THIS EPISODE

The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced today that a 26-year old Venezuelan will be its next music director. We hear about him, about his education in Venezuela and about a movement to restore music teaching in California. On Reporter's Notebook, making energy out of the sludge from treated wastewater. Will Los Angeles lead the way?

For the first time in years, state money is flowing to public schools for the teaching of music, just as the Los Angeles Philharmonic hires a new conductor who is a poster boy for music education developed in Venezuela. Gustavo Dudamel became director of Venezuela's National Youth Orchestra when he was 17. He's won the Gustav Mahler conducting competition in Germany, and conducted Mozart's Don Giovanni at La Scala. When Esa-Pekka Salonen steps down as music director of the LA Philharmonic at the end of next season, Dudamel will be his successor. Salonen took over when he was 34. Dudamel is now 26. We hear about Dudamel and a possible turnaround for creative arts in California schools.

It takes 38 trucks to move 750 tons of treated solid waste every day from the Terminal Island Water Reclamation Plant up the road to a city-owned farm in Kern County. A new project will cut those truck trips in half, reducing congestion and greenhouse emissions, and produce enough energy to power 3000 homes. Lee Peterson is environmental and health reporter for the Daily Breeze.

Guests:Lee Peterson, Environmental and Health Reporter for the Daily Breeze